An aide to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu today dismissed US anger at Israel's approval for new homes in a settlement near Jerusalem, saying it was part of a routine building programme.
Mr Netanyahu seemed keen to contain the fresh dispute with Washington over settlements, ordering cabinet ministers to show restraint after the White House said it was "dismayed" at the plan to build 900 new houses in Gilo.
An official said the order went out after a deputy minister was quoted by an Israeli news website as accusing the United States of "behaving like a bull in a china shop" for objecting to the building plan for an area in the West Bank that Israel sees as part of Jerusalem.
Mr Netanyahu's aide also sent reporters a message calling the building plan "a routine process". He said Mr Netanyahu does not normally review municipal building plans and saw Gilo as "an integral part of Jerusalem."
"Construction in Gilo has taken place regularly for dozens of years and there is nothing new about the current planning and construction," the aide added.
But US President Barack Obama put fresh pressure on Israel today to curb its settlement projects, saying continued building could lead to a dangerous situation with embittered Palestinians.
"I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel's security, I think it makes it harder for them to make peace with their neighbours," Mr Obama told Fox News. "I think it embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous."
Publication of the government commission's blueprint for Gilo yesterday drew sharp rebukes from the Palestinians, joined by Washington, Europe and the United Nations.
Nabil Abu Rdaineh, aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the building plan, saying it "destroys the last chances for the peace process."
Mr Abbas has said peace talks could resume only if settlement building stopped, a demand rejected by the United States which has echoed Israel in calling for negotiations, suspended for nearly a year, to start without preconditions.
Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat told an Israeli radio station today Mr Netanyahu "has the choice - settlements or peace", and accused Israel of trying to decide the conflict by building instead of at the negotiating table.
French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, visiting Jerusalem, said France regretted Israel's decision. "But for now we must relaunch human dialogue, face to face, looking each other in the eye. I believe that is absolutely necessary," Mr Kouchner told reporters, referring to a revival of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon deplored the Israeli move, spokesman Farhan Haq said. Ban "believes that such actions undermine efforts for peace and cast doubt on the viability of the two-state solution" for Israelis and Palestinians, he said.
President Barack Obama has been trying to persuade Israel to rein in settlement activity. Mr Netanyahu has said he would avoid expanding existing settlements, but rejects demands to stop building in Jerusalem.
Gilo was built on West Bank land Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later annexed as part of Jerusalem. It is home to 40,000 Israelis.
Some 500,000 Jews live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, also captured in 1967, among 2.7 million Palestinians.
Reuters